Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2005 22:29:47 -0400 From: Aaron Peterson <dopplecoder@gmail.com> To: Tom Pepper <tom@phonebites.com> Cc: FreeBSD Questions <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org> Subject: Re: FreeBSD 5.4 + VMware Message-ID: <45d750d205092019292957db2c@mail.gmail.com> In-Reply-To: <743FB369-1E58-4066-BDD3-FCD91E48D2D3@phonebites.com> References: <45d750d2050920133744d85b32@mail.gmail.com> <743FB369-1E58-4066-BDD3-FCD91E48D2D3@phonebites.com>
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> On Sep 20, 2005, at 1:37 PM, Aaron Peterson wrote: > > > I've had problems loading/booting FreeBSD 5.4 in a virtual machine. > > If I start in the default mode, it crashes VMware. If I start with > > ACPI disabled it crashes VMware. If I start in "Safe Mode" it works > > great. So... I want to learn about what is different about booting > > in "Safe Mode" from the default boot options. That way I can further > > troubleshoot and find the culpret hopefully. Thanks for any > > information regarding this issue. On 9/20/05, Tom Pepper <tom@phonebites.com> wrote: > Aaron: > > You're on the right track. Both FreeBSD and VMWare are marginally > aware of each other, though it is possible if you do enough digging > to get 5.x virtual machines limping along inside both GSX and ESX. > However, expect to see strange behavior in a number of applications, > and problems with CPU usage in applications that should be idle, > since freebsd's nanosleep() call eats CPU when running under these > platforms. > > You can boot FreeBSD in standard mode by instructing the VMware host > to not use ACPI in each config file (in ESX it's usually called > vmware.vmx per-config) and adding the following two lines before > restarting the instance: > > acpi.present =3D "false" > monitor_control.disable_apic =3D "TRUE" > > it's easiest then, once you have an installation working, to use a > product like virtualcenter to template and clone the working instance > out to other hosts. I am trying to run FreeBSD 5.4 on ESX, since I seem to have left that information out in earlier posts. I really appreciate the information, I wasn't aware of any configuration directives like these for vmware. I am left with a couple other questions that you or someone might be able to help me with. Why does nanosleep() "eat CPU when running under these platforms"? I was able to get FreeBSD running on a virtual host before hearing your suggestion by adding "hint.apic.0.disabled=3D0" to /boot/loader.conf. I'm sure this does basically the same thing as your suggestion, except in the FreeBSD kernel instead of in the virtual host configuration. I wonder what the pros and cons are of doing one or the other? In your opinion, is it worth running FreeBSD 5.4 on ESX in light of the quirks you've noticed? Thanks, Aaron
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